A Matter of Trust
by Ramzes
Summary: We all know that the last - or should we say the first - meeting between Eona and the Pearl Emperor was not a pleasant one. Is their second meeting going to be different?


**You know what? It's nice to have a book that picture dragons with respect. Well, in Eastern cultures they are treated with respect, generally. Unlike here. Here, they are the evil and we just kill them. I mean, what did St George did? He killed the dragon. What do the heroes in fairy tales do? They kill dragons. And Apollo went even further: he not only killed the dragon Pytho, but also robbed him, adding insult to injury. Really, the nerve of that man! **

**Anyway, enough rambling. This story is just something that came to my mind and wouldn't let me rest until I wrote it. Enjoy (hopefully)!**

A Matter of Trust

"Be safe," Lady Dela whispered and I nodded reassuringly.

Ryko stared at me hard. "I still wish you would take me with you," he muttered and I sighed.

"We don't want to attract unwanted attention, Ryko, and two people draw more attention than one." I answered. I didn't want to mention the other reason for my hesitation to take him along: he had yet to recover from his wounds. The Mirror Dragon had healed him, but that had cost him too much energy from his body. He was still as weak as a seven-year-old, which was much better than his state in the first few days right after the healing.

He nodded slowly, reluctantly. "I know," he said. "I just wish you could."

I smiled slightly and looked at Lady Dela. "What do you think?" I asked and turned around, so she could inspect me thoroughly. "Do I make a lovely girl?"

I was only half-joking. In order to gather information in the nearest town, I needed to present myself as a girl, but I have lived as a boy for so long that I had simply forgotten how to be female.

She nodded firmly. "Now, only if you don't forget to walk like a girl – " she said. "Good luck!" she said. "We'll be waiting for you."

I knew that my friends wouldn't sleep until I came back and that knowledge sent a nice warm wave to my heart, making me feel brave and determined. I had to succeed – not only for the Empire and my own survival, but for them, too.

Just as I expected, I got lost three times in the town and I had to ask about the route twice, before I found my footing. I listened to people talking and tried to memorize all they said, so I could later analyze it with Lady Dela. I had come to have full trust in her ability to draw the truth from hundred various sources of information, each of which pictured a different version.

Soon, I felt utterly confused. I had expected a wide specter of rumours, but not such a wide one. There were people who claimed that Emperor Sethon had bound Lord Ido to his will; other claimed that Sethon had already been deposed; some travellers assured their listeners that the Pearl Emperor Kygo was besieging the capital city; that Lord Ido and Sethon were fighting over the Empire; that the Pearl Emperor had been killed… I knew it was probably just a wild flight of imagination, but all the same, I couldn't keep a shudder at hearing the words. _Please keep him safe_, I prayed to the gods.

As hard as I tried, I couldn't hear a word about the Mirror Dragoneye being a deceiver. A traitor. A woman. So, this far Ido had not told anyone about my secret. I didn't know what to think about him or the change that I had forced on him, but his silence meant one important thing: for now, I was safe. No one suspected the thin girl with short hair and nothing outstanding about her. No one even looked at her. And that suited me just fine.

I ran aside as soon as I heard the clatter of hooves too close to me. I was dangerously close to becoming a cripple again, so I put all my weight into my jump and then almost jumped again, because I bumped into a stone wall in the middle of the street. I fell down.

Dazed, I looked up and not even a moment later, I felt even more dazed. The stone wall turned out to be the Emperor Kygo. I barely kept myself from making a bow. He stared at me, surprised by my surprise, but then his face changed – he had recognized me too.

"Are you hurt?" he asked concernedly and made a movement as if to kneel next to me.

I stood up and dusted my clothes. I was sure that I was blushing from embarrassment. We had already drew the attention of too many passers-by. He nodded at me to follow him and I did so. On his way to wherever he was leading me, he turned to make sure that I was following him and his eyes widened, when he realized that I wasn't limping.

He brought me to a small in, not too far from the main street. When we entered his room, there was a man inside who looked at me and tensed, then looked at the young Emperor.

He smiled slightly. "She's an ally," he said, and the young man relaxed. He looked familiar, although I couldn't put a name to his face.

"I'll leave you then, Your Majesty," he said, and while he was taking his leave, I finally remembered who he was – the young noble who had trained with the Emperor, then Prince Kygo, and who had been beaten for accidentally hitting him. I had heard that he was hurt badly, but he certainly looked recovered enough now.

There were no servants in here, so it was just the Emperor and I. I looked at him and stiffened when I saw the fury in his eyes. It had entirely replaced the concern I had fancied to see there when he had thought I might have hurt myself. He almost pushed me on the bed and glared at me. "You were never deformed, were you?" he asked accusingly. "It was just another lie."

"No!" I exclaimed. "No, Lord! I was deformed, but after I communed with my dragon, she healed me. I swear it's true."

The silence lingered. Finally, I dared look at him, preparing myself for his disbelief and anger, but to my surprise, he was smiling. He was standing right in front of me, tall and lean, and looked as if he had received the best news in his life. "So she's that powerful?" he asked. "You really united with her?"

I slowly nodded, not believing that it was real. It seemed that instead of accusing me of yet another lie, he believed me. But then, he had to. He needed an ally against Sethon and if I were a traitor, it was not likely that I'd walk around in a small town, trying to stay unnoticed.

We stared at each other. He seemed thinner and older than the last time I had seen him and the neck of his robe was hiding the base of his throat. Now he loosened it and my gaze was attracted to the golden pearl. Now it was fully attached.

I didn't know what he saw. A girl with short hair and no womanly curves, a girl who felt so awkward in her female clothes, a girl who was still very much a boy despite her painted lips. I shifted uncomfortably.

He suddenly tore his gaze away. "Talk!" he said. "I know that Ido is being held prisoner. Why would Sethon do that? Ido was his ally! Why did Sethon kill all the other Dragoneyes? What's going on? What is he trying to achieve?"

I stared at him. "Did they say that Sethon did it?" I asked stupidly. Of course they would say that. The new Emperor wouldn't want it known that Lord Ido had tricked him. That would undermine his authority at the very beginning of his rule. He'd rather take the blame for killing the Dragoneye Lords himself.

The Emperor looked at me with narrow eyes. "Mostly, yes. Why? Isn't it true?"

"No," I said. "It was Lord Ido who did it."

"Lord Ido?" I couldn't blame him for the disbelieving note in his voice. "Gods, why?"

In a whisper, as if frightened of my own words – which I really was – I told him about the String of Pearls and the black folio and I saw my own horror reflected in his eyes.

"But Sethon cannot mean to – use it, right?"

I didn't answer. He couldn't really think that - ?

He sighed. "Of course he'd use it, I know. So, I'll have to keep you safe. That's my duty… and my pleasure."

For my greatest irritation, my suppressed female nature decided to reveal itself just then. I blushed.

But the Emperor generously pretended that he had not seen anything. "I've been gathering support and information, that's how I came here. And I've been looking for you," he said. "Sometimes I despaired that I'd never find you."

"You've been looking for me?" I whispered. Had he forgiven me for my actions?

He looked irritated. "Of course I have. You are the Mirror Dragoneye, remember? True, you haven't united with your dragon properly, but a slim chance is better than no chance at all."

"I see," I said. He had been only looking for my power. How silly of me to think that he did it out of care or because of our past friendship.

"Where are you living, - ?" he asked.

"Eona," I answered to his unspoken question. "Lady Dela and Ryko and I are living in a fishing village."

"Lady Dela? She's safe?"

"Yes," I confirmed and I saw a quick flash of relief across his face. It lasted only a moment, but it was there. He really cared for Lady Dela and he was happy that she had escaped.

"What happened in the palace?" he asked and finally sat on the bed next to me.

"They all died," I said bleakly. "Lord Tyron, Hollin – Lady Jila."

The last name came out like a barely audible whisper. I looked at him and I couldn't mistake the pain on his face. "I take it that you saw it happening?" he asked softly.

I nodded. My head was full of the sights of the Lady Jila's terrified face and her struggle to keep her baby. I couldn't have said anything even if I had tried.

"I won't make you talk about it," the Emperor said, almost gently. "Go on."

"We were caught," I said, "and Lord Ido entered my mind."

"He did _what_?" he interrupted me and I realized that I had told him something I never meant to share with him. Now, I had to confess about yet another betrayal born out of fear.

"I lied to you," I said and I was surprised at how free these words made me feel. Now, there would be no secrets, no need to maintain appearances that were false. "Well, I didn't actually say a lie, but I kept something from you."

I tensed, waiting for the blow that would inevitably follow, but it did not come. The Emperor's face was carefully fixed. "Go on," he said neutrally.

"I told you I could call Ido's dragon and it was true, but I didn't tell you that Ido could enter my body, steal my will away through that connection. It was him who moved the King Monsoon and he made the other Dragoneyes think that I did it. He – he threatened me."

I hadn't intended to tell him that and I immediately shut up. A moment later, I hurriedly went on, "He was doing the same thing after we had taken the red folio. He was starting to possess me when Lady Dela – she was reading the folio, hoping to find out the Mirror's Dragon name – she shouted at me that she had found it. I called her and that was the end of it. I was the stronger one, not Ido. His power over me broke like a twig."

"It did?" His voice was still neutral, but I thought I had detected a slight hint of amusement. He reveled in the idea of Lord Ido being defeated by a girl.

"She's the Queen Dragon," I answered simply. "We really united and our power overcame Ido's." Besides, it had chased Ido out of my head. I was glad. I didn't want him there.

"We opened his heart-point and we let him have our back against Sethon's people when we ran," I finished.

The new Emperor was staring at me, open-mouthed, for once not dignified at all, bit looking just like every eighteen-year-old boy who had received the shock of his life.

"You made him our ally?" he finally managed.

"I wouldn't call him an ally," I corrected. "Not exactly."

"But he helped you escape."

"That he did."

Again, he stared at me and suddenly laughed. He went to the table and poured two glasses of wine, then passed the one to me and drank deeply from the other. "You will always surprise me, Eona," he said. "I expect that if you meet a demon, you'll have him following you around like an obedient puppy."

His eyes were shining with mirth, that was the man I had come to like and respect, the one who had showed me such gentle friendship.

"No, it was the Mirror Dragon – " I tried to explain.

"I don't doubt that the dragon played part, but don't understate your own power. I think you can talk everyone into everything. You talked even me into forgiving you."

I held my breath. "Have you, Your Majesty?" I asked. "Forgiven me, I mean?"

"Of course I have," he answered impatiently. "I brought you here, didn't I?"

I drank from my glass. The wine was too warm. For a fleeting moment, I wondered how the Emperor took the change from his life of luxury in the harem to being a runaway who lived in inns that could at best be called decent.

"Remember what my father said?" he asked. "A hidden nature is not always an evil nature. I realized that maybe I should apply this to you."

I smiled. I could feel his trust in me, just like I had felt his distrust at our last meeting. We drained our glasses and I stood up to refill them. He didn't look at me to make sure I hadn't put anything into the wine.

"We have to free Lord Ido," I said.

"What?" The Emperor Kygo was looking at me as if I were insane. "Sweet gods, why?"

"Because the dragons are grieving for their Dragoneyes and I need someone to help me suppress them," I answered bluntly. "They almost killed me with their sorrow once and I have no doubt that they'll finally do it. I need another Dragoneye and right now, Ido is the only option."

"I see. How did he threaten you?"

This sudden change of topic made me blink. "He tried to force himself on me and said that if I refused him, he'd tell everyone that I was a girl."

A flash of anger made his eyes burn, but his voice was calm. "Don't worry, I promise he'll never do anything like that, ever again."

The caress of his fingers on the back of my palm was gentle, almost imperceptible – like a caress of a feather, like a sigh. I found myself smiling at him and he smiled back. "When did the dragons hurt you?" he asked.

"I forged a connection with the Mirror Dragon to heal Ryko, otherwise he would have died of his wounds. While she focused on him, the dragons came on to me." The memory made me shudder. I had really feared that they'd tear me apart.

"So, the Moon Shadow is all right now?"

That was the man I neither liked nor respected – the Prince who had hit the old teacher, who had hurt the other combatant in his training session.

"He has a name," I said coldly. "Ryko. I think you should remember it, Your Majesty. Ryko. The one who almost died for you."

I looked at him defiantly, waiting for his anger, but instead, he stared at me thoughtfully. When he finally spoke, the words were not the ones that I expected to hear.

"I acknowledge my fault, my lady," he said softly. "And I thank you."

He stretched a hand towards me. "Remember out pact?" he asked. "We must survive together."

I nodded and let him draw me closer.

We trusted each other and we had a pact. We would survive. Together.

When I finally left the inn, the sun was going down. Lady Dela and Ryko should be mad with worry by now, but I couldn't be sorry. I wanted to go and share the news with them – well, some of the news. I would omit the last part of my meeting with the Emperor. I should feel contrite at keeping secrets from them again, but this secret was so wonderful – I needed for it to be mine alone, at least until everything came out.


End file.
